1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of fusible links, of the break-away type that have a pair of metallic plates, soldered together and are then placed in a strategic location to monitor the existence of any fires and may form a part of fire prevention equipment, such as smoke detectors or safety devices. The soldered plates are placed under spring tension and when the ambient temperature heats the plates above the eutectic point of the solder, the plates separate.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A recent advance in the art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,829, issued to the applicant herein. That patent is directed to the problem encountered in the art of links tending to rejoin after the initial separation if there is a failure of the links to fully separate. While the device in that patent is an improvement over prior devices and is satisfactory in many respects, full and complete separation is not insured to the extent that this invention provides. Important to the correct operation of a fuse is that it respond accurately to a critical temperature. Separation of the fuse link components must be clean and abrupt. Shortcomings of previous fuses is the time delay, incomplete separation and lack of consistent response to a critical temperature. The present invention does so respond accurately and "cleanly", i.e., the separation of plates is abrupt upon reaching the critical temperature.